Carriage-curtain fastening



(No Model.)

J. M BAKER.

CARRIAGE CURTAIN FASTENING.

Patented Jan. 5,1886.

R 0 T m V N I WITNESSES ATTORNEYS N. PETERS PhoIo-Lflhcgmpher, Wnsllinglom D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES M. BAKER, OF FREEPORT, ILLINOIS.

CARRIAGE-CURTAIN FASTENING.

QPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 333,811, dated January 5, 1886.

Application filed March 12, 1885. Serial No. 158,570. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs M. BAKER, a resident of Freeport, in the county Stephenson and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Carriage- Curtain Fastenings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in carriage-curtain fastenings, the same being fully described and explained in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device applied to the rigid frame of a carriage and shows the curtain fastened. Fig. 2 shows the same parts in the same position, as seen from the left in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 1, but with the movable parts in a different position. Fig. 4 shows the invention as seen in the direction indicated by the arrow m, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a section through the line as 3 Fig. 4, looking in the direction indicated by the arrow m, the lever G G being removed.

In these views, A is the body or other rigid portion of a carriage. G is a button or stud, fastened thereto in the ordinary manner. B is a curtain to be held in position by said button or stud, and G is a lever pivotally joined to said stud to aid in forcing the eyelet or button-hole J of the curtain over the stud and to resist the removal thereof when once in position. The stud O differs from the ordinary carriage-curtain stud in having an approximately-conicalhead provided with depressions DD on opposite sides thereof, anda perforation, I, Fig. 5, to receive the inwardly-bent ends G G of the lever G. This lever may be of any desired length and of any outline convenient for passing through the eyelet J. Its inwardly-bent ends G G are in contact, or nearly so, at a point, a, Fig. 5, when the lever is in its normal position, as in Fig. 1; but the lever being of elastic material,the ends may be separated or the two branches thereof forced farther apart by overcoming this elasticity. The distance of the two branches of the lever from each other is normally somewhat greater than the diameter of the neck E of the stud C, but less than the diameter of the head thereof, so that in carrying the lever from the position G, Fig. 1, to the position G, Fig. 3, its branches, passing over the curved surfaces 0 o of the head 0, must become more widely separated, while in the reverse motion of the lever they are brought together again by the elasticityof the body of the lever. In thus passing from the 3 the branches of the lever are thrown outward to the dotted lines G, Fig. 4, and fall back slightly on reaching the position G, Fig. 3, and enter the depressions D D. The elastic force of the lever holds it with some degree of rigidity when in this position, as it does also when in its normal position. (Shown in Fig. 1.)

In operation-the lever is brought into the position G, Fig. 3, or may be raised still farther, as .to G, if necessary, and the eyelet or button-hole J of the curtain B ispassed over its free end to a convenient distance, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The lever is then depressed and the curtain thereby forced at once downward and inward until the lever, moving in the direction indicated by the arrow a, Fig. 3, reaches the position G, when the eyelet J will have been forced over the conical head of the stud, and the curtain B will be in the position shown in Fig. 1. From this position the curtain can escape only when the lever is rotated in a contrary direction, and such rotation is resisted by the elastic force of the lever, which tends to prevent the separation of the branches, which, as before shown, is involved in such motion, and the curtain is therefore held securely. This resistance of thelever to the detachment of the curtain from the button is in many cases an advantage, but it is not essential to the successful operation of my device. The neck E of the stud is so much smaller than the head thereof that the curtain would be reasonably secure against accidental detachment, even if the lever offered no obstacle to such detachment. It is evident that if the head he sufliciently flattened at the two opposite points of contact of the lever therewith it will offer no resistance to the raising of the lever from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig.

A position shown In Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig.

ICO

3. The lever will then force the eyelet of the curtain over the head of the stud, but will have no tendency to lock it there, and in that case the curtain will be secured against detachment by the difference of diameter of the head and neck of the stud, as is the case where an ordinary button is used.

I have shown practical forms of the elements involved in my invention; but I do not Wish to limit myselfto the exact form of lever, pivot, or stud, nor would the device be value less if the depressions D D were omitted. The form of one or all of the parts may be varied, while the invention remains the same and secures the same ad vantages. A shrunken curtain is easily brought to the proper length, the button-hole readily forced over the stud, and the curtain securely retained when in position. At the same time, however, that the formsshown are not absolutely essential, I believe them to be in many respects the most advantageous possible. The conical or pointed head is especially adapted to the purpose for which it is designed, since it offers less resistance to the engagement of the eyelet than any other form. This form would be advantageous even without a lever; but where this lever is used it is particularly desirable, since the eyelet cannot conveniently be manipulated with the fingers, as it can where the ordinary button is used.

I am aware that it is not broadly new to combine in a carriage-curtain fastener a stationary stud or pin and a lever pivoted to said stud and adapted. to force the curtaineyelet over the same; but, as heretofore constructed, the pin or stud, which is one element of the combination, has been of uniform diameter throughontits working length, instead of comprising a head and a neck of less diameter than that of the head.

In the form of fastener shown in the drawings of this application the lever consists of two elastic branches, each of which is pivoted in the outer face of the stud or pin, while as these fasteners have been constructed prior to my invention the lever has been a single rigid bar lying in a slot in the stud and connected therewith by a pivot passing through both thestud and the lever.

Having now fully illustrated and described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a carriage-curtain fastener, the combination of a stud having a head and a neck of less diameter than the head, with a lever pivoted to said stud and adapted to force the eyelet of the curtain oversaid head and about said neck, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a carriage-curtain fastener, the combination of a suitable stud and a lever consisting of two branches whose ends are turned inward and pivoted in the stud at opposite points in its periphery, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, in a carriage-curtain fastener, of a cone-headed stud and a lever pivoted to said stud and adapted to force the eyelet of a curtain over said head, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a carriage-curtain fastener, the combination of a conical-headed stud, a double lever pivotally connected therewith, and depressions in the head of said stud adapted to receive and retain the branches of said double lever.

5. The combination, in a carriage-curtain fastener, of a stud comprising a head and a neck of less diameter than that of the head, with an elastic lever consisting of two integrally-formed branches whose ends turninward and are pivoted in the neck of said stud, whereby, in the rotation ofthe lever, the head forces apart the branches thereof, substantially as and for the purpose set forth- 6. The combination, in a carriage-curtain fastener, of a stud consisting of a conical head and a neck of less diameter than that of the head, with an elastic lever consisting of two integrally-formed branches whose ends are turned inward and pivoted in the neck of said stud, whereby, in the rotation of the lever, the branches thereof are separated by the passage of the head between them, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subseribing witnesses.

N ELSON H. EATON, J. A. GRAIN. 

